Group of B.C. Liberals calls for Christy Clark’s resignation
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Some members of British Columbia’s governing Liberal party are publicly calling
for Premier Christy Clark to resign over a scandal involving a leaked plan to
attract ethnic voters.

The party members, who describe themselves as “especially with (the) ethnic
background” of Indo- and South Asian descent, agreed over a Sunday breakfast
meeting in Surrey, B.C., to call for Clark to step down.

Mike de Jong, premier-designate Christy Clark, George Abbott and Kevin Falcon congratulate Ms. Clark on her win at a the BC Liberal Convention in Vancouver on Feb. 26, 2011.
JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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Their call comes hours ahead of an emergency government cabinet meeting
called to address the scandal.

Vikram Bajwa, who co-ordinated the breakfast discussion, said 89 party
members passed a one-line declaration because Clark has made “the ethnic vote a
joke” in the province.

“In order for us to gain and come back to the government, she has to resign
and somebody new has to come and lead the party into elections,” he said in an
interview.

“If she doesn’t resign, the Liberal party will just be nowhere to be
seen.”

Clark issued a letter of apology last Thursday after a plan was leaked that
urged the Liberals to co-ordinate resources to focus on winning over ethnic
voters.

On Friday, Clark accepted the resignation of her deputy chief of staff, Kim
Haakstad, who sent out 17-page document to several people working on a Liberal
re-election plan.

The co-ordination of resources appeared to condone allowing taxpayer-funded
government workers to work with the Liberal party on disseminating the
strategy.

The document generated days of Opposition New Democrat criticism over the
so-called ethnic wins strategy, which involved capitalizing politically on
historic injustice issues that tear at an ethnic community’s fabric.

The strategy described the Liberal government’s 2008 apology for the 1914
Komagata Maru incident in Vancouver as an ethnic win in the Indo-Canadian
community.

Almost 380 people from India were denied entry to Canada and their ship
stayed harboured in Vancouver for months before returning to India with most of
its passengers. Upon arrival in India, a riot erupted and 22 passengers
died.

On Friday, Veteran Liberal MLA Dave Hayer, an Indo-Canadian who has
represented a Surrey riding since 2001, said the ethnic vote strategy demeans
the work of all MLA’s in B.C. who genuinely work to represent all of their
constituents.

Hayer called for punishment of those responsible for the strategy, but
stopped shot of criticizing Clark.

Bajwa said his group also voted in favour of calling on Clark to scrap the
Times of India awards, a lavish international event that’s set to bring Indian
film stars to Vancouver in April.

He said the group fears the $11 million event, coupled with the ethnic vote
scandal, will create a backlash for the Indo-Canadian community because it’s a
major expenditure of taxpayer dollars.

“We won’t stand for that. There are more important major issues concerning
our communities — our children, our education and other discrimination we feel
here accordingly that should be addressed,” he said.

Bajwa said the scandal was the major topic of discussion today at the temples
in Surrey, and while his fellow party members are not angry they believe the
“buck” stops with the premier.

“It is important to all ethnic communities in B.C., not to Indo-Canadians
only,” he said. “Because during the elections and after the elections, no matter
whatever the results are, this is going to be a discussion topic for
everybody.

“We don’t want to be discriminated against and disrespected for this
reason.”

Bajwa has been a member of the B.C. Liberals for one year and a member of the
federal Liberal Party for a decade. In 2011 he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in
Surrey, B.C.

Former Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender, who is the B.C. Liberal candidate
in the riding of Surrey-Fleetwood for this May’s election, questions Bajwa’s
motives over the call for Clark’s resignation.

“I’m ... a realist and I know we’re in the lead up to an election, and
everyone is looking to anything they can to discredit anybody,” he said in an
interview. “It’s unfortunate, but it is the reality of what happens.”

Fassbender said he continues to completely support the premier and believes
she has dealt with the issue at hand decisively.

“I think that people are making this and taking this way too far and I think
we need to recognize that a mistake was made,” he said.

“I totally agree it was inappropriate, the person that has taken
responsibility has resigned.”